Medicine in the popular press: the influence of the media on perceptions of disease.
In an age of increasing globalization and discussion of the possibility of global pandemics, increasing rates of reporting of these events may influence public perception of risk. The present studies investigate the impact of high levels of media reporting on the perceptions of disease. Undergraduat...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:5cf2eee6e00743d1ab4435ab2f3be9c8 2023-05-15T15:34:25+02:00 Medicine in the popular press: the influence of the media on perceptions of disease. Meredith E Young Geoffrey R Norman Karin R Humphreys 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003552 https://doaj.org/article/5cf2eee6e00743d1ab4435ab2f3be9c8 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2569209?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0003552 https://doaj.org/article/5cf2eee6e00743d1ab4435ab2f3be9c8 PLoS ONE, Vol 3, Iss 10, p e3552 (2008) Medicine R Science Q article 2008 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003552 2022-12-31T00:56:10Z In an age of increasing globalization and discussion of the possibility of global pandemics, increasing rates of reporting of these events may influence public perception of risk. The present studies investigate the impact of high levels of media reporting on the perceptions of disease. Undergraduate psychology and medical students were asked to rate the severity, future prevalence and disease status of both frequently reported diseases (e.g. avian flu) and infrequently reported diseases (e.g. yellow fever). Participants considered diseases that occur frequently in the media to be more serious, and have higher disease status than those that infrequently occur in the media, even when the low media frequency conditions were considered objectively 'worse' by a separate group of participants. Estimates of severity also positively correlated with popular print media frequency in both student populations. However, we also see that the concurrent presentation of objective information about the diseases can mitigate this effect. It is clear from these data that the media can bias our perceptions of disease. Article in Journal/Newspaper Avian flu Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PLoS ONE 3 10 e3552 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Medicine R Science Q |
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Medicine R Science Q Meredith E Young Geoffrey R Norman Karin R Humphreys Medicine in the popular press: the influence of the media on perceptions of disease. |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
In an age of increasing globalization and discussion of the possibility of global pandemics, increasing rates of reporting of these events may influence public perception of risk. The present studies investigate the impact of high levels of media reporting on the perceptions of disease. Undergraduate psychology and medical students were asked to rate the severity, future prevalence and disease status of both frequently reported diseases (e.g. avian flu) and infrequently reported diseases (e.g. yellow fever). Participants considered diseases that occur frequently in the media to be more serious, and have higher disease status than those that infrequently occur in the media, even when the low media frequency conditions were considered objectively 'worse' by a separate group of participants. Estimates of severity also positively correlated with popular print media frequency in both student populations. However, we also see that the concurrent presentation of objective information about the diseases can mitigate this effect. It is clear from these data that the media can bias our perceptions of disease. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Meredith E Young Geoffrey R Norman Karin R Humphreys |
author_facet |
Meredith E Young Geoffrey R Norman Karin R Humphreys |
author_sort |
Meredith E Young |
title |
Medicine in the popular press: the influence of the media on perceptions of disease. |
title_short |
Medicine in the popular press: the influence of the media on perceptions of disease. |
title_full |
Medicine in the popular press: the influence of the media on perceptions of disease. |
title_fullStr |
Medicine in the popular press: the influence of the media on perceptions of disease. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Medicine in the popular press: the influence of the media on perceptions of disease. |
title_sort |
medicine in the popular press: the influence of the media on perceptions of disease. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003552 https://doaj.org/article/5cf2eee6e00743d1ab4435ab2f3be9c8 |
genre |
Avian flu |
genre_facet |
Avian flu |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 3, Iss 10, p e3552 (2008) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2569209?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0003552 https://doaj.org/article/5cf2eee6e00743d1ab4435ab2f3be9c8 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003552 |
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PLoS ONE |
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3 |
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10 |
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e3552 |
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1766364822752985088 |